THE detective leading the hunt for the brutal killer of a Hinckley man has appealed for the public to help solve the crime.

The body of 27-year-old Mubasher Hussain Ashraf, known locally as Busha, was found slumped in his black Audi A3 on land off Middlefield Lane, Hinckley, on Sunday night.

He had been stabbed to death.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior said: “We are still searching for the weapon and we are looking for any knife.

“Searches are continuing and I would like to ask anyone who finds a knife discarded in the area to come forward and contact us immediately.

“It’s rare that we have murders in Hinckley and Leicester and so it is vitally important that we investigate them thoroughly. I need to know what happened to Busha.

“I’m particularly interested in what happened to him between Saturday and Sunday.

“Anyone who saw Busha between this time, please come forward and let us know.”

The detective added that he thought the stabbing was an isolated incident and was quick to reassure worried residents.

He said: “I want to reassure people who may be feeling a bit scared or worried following this incident.

“We are doing everything we can to follow up any information we get in this investigation.

“I would like to thank all residents on Middlefield Lane for their co-operation and assistance.

“Everyone has been very helpful to us even though we’ve caused a lot of disruption over the last few days.”

A member of the public discovered the body just before 8pm in the A3 which

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was parked on scrubland behind the allotments.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Tuesday confirmed that Busha died from a knife wound.

He leaves behind his parents, who are from Hinckley, an older sister and three brothers.

His father, Ash, is well known in town as he runs Red Rose Taxis, based on Middlefield Place, near where the body was discovered.

In a statement issued through police, the family said: “We have been left distraught and absolutely devastated by what has happened. There are no words that can describe how we are feeling at this time. We just can’t believe it.

“We are appealing to anyone who knows anything to please contact the police.”

Det Supt Stuart Prior said police are now trying to piece together Busha’s last-known movements.

He said: “"We know he was in the Castle Tavern, Hinckley at around 6pm on Friday, September 5, and would like to hear from anyone who saw him from this time up until 8pm on Sunday, September 7.

“We’d also like to speak to anyone who saw the black Audi - registration number YY04 YJD - which was owned by Mr Ashraf - in Middlefield Lane. There are allotments and industrial premises in the area so we’re hoping that people who saw the car parked there but didn’t think anything of it at the time will now come forward.

“Detailed forensic work is still going on at the scene as we work to piece together the chain of events that led to the death.”

Shocked Middlefield Lane residents spoke of the events which came in the aftermath of the body being found.

One said: “It was about 8pm when we saw the police coming down. There was a fire engine, four police cars, a medical car and then the helicopter about 9pm.

“You wouldn’t think this would happen here. It is awful.

“My neighbours said more police were here at 7.30am today (Monday) and then I knew something serious had happened.”

Another added: “We saw the police coming down about 7.30pm. My lad saw a car drive down there earlier and we didn’t know whose it was.

“A white Transit van often comes down here with another car. I think people are dealing drugs. I’m not saying it is related to this but it could be.

“We didn’t see anything which is a surprise because if a car is on fire you would expect to see it.”

Another said: “We heard a helicopter and saw police cars but we didn’t know what was going on until this morning.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Leicestershire police on 0116 222 2222 and quote incident 748:7:9 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is free and anonymous.